Presidential Elections And Quest For Justice

| by Laksiri Fernando

( November 26, 2014, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) I was extremely pleased when Maithripala Sirisena, the common candidate of the opposition, emphasized the importance of adopting a Gandhian policy for Sri Lanka in his appearance at the ‘Satana’ program of the Sirasa TV on 22 November. 

Presidential Elections and Quest for Justice by Thavam

Rajapaksa’s Theory Of Files On Others Is A Deliberate Attack On Country Itself

Sri Lanka: Mr. President, We Have Your Files Too

By Nilantha Ilangamuwa-25/11/2014

Dear Mr. President we are no longer a nation based on the ideology of the cancer cell which, as Edward Abbey, a priceless man of our times who speaks out against the unjust in the United States, described as growth for the sake of growth.

It is true that many politicians and bureaucrats including you attempted to make this nation of ostriches, people quite happy to hide their heads in the sand when confront by injustice, but the times are changing, Sri Lanka now is eager to see the positive changes. Once again, the principles of non-violence is growing among the authentic political ideologies.

Do the files on President Rajapaksa and his clan differ in content from the files that he is keeping on others? For one thing the amounts plundered will be unimaginably higher.

It is impressive to listen to the common opposition candidate and the former General Secretary of the ruling party, Maithripala Sirisena, highlight the values of non-violence. However, the journey has just started. There is a long way to go. Real challenges, obstacles and burdens as well as failures are yet to come. It is not easy to get rid of the tyrant who has disabled the morality of the nation.

It has been the main story for most of the media outlets based in Colombo. President Rajapaksa has openly challenged those who crossed over and those who are planning to walk out on him in the coming few days.

According to the president, he has files of many ministers and others who are licking his feet. The implication being that the very reason of why they are with the president is just because of those files. The bugs may have eaten the facts, but it’s all over the country and no longer invisible to the public that most of politicians in the country have contributed to the ruin of the country and the plunder of public resources.

However, no one knows the contents of those files. But bugs insides the files have revealed that the subjects of those files have aided and abetted the destruction of the stability, integrity and dignity of the country in the name of politics. Every file may have its own own uniqueness or art of the stealing of the public resources. Is this a new type of magic?

“I will not use them against those who had left betraying the party, but I warn them not to throw stones from inside glass houses,” he stressed his “gentlemanly” political tricks in a public function. This is nothing else but the utter bitterness of political opportunism and the reflections of the breakdown of the power he once held.

His theory of files on others has two faces.

First: the morality of the leadership which he maintained in last decade, and second, the political behaviour and dissimulation of the ruler and his clan and their colleagues.

If the country and the state institutes are deserving of their independent power, the president should submit those files to the Attorney General and the AG should prosecute each case on its merits. But why he does not proceed with due process? It is not because, he is unable to do so, but he has to keep those files under the carpet to protect himself. His politics have become a self destructive parasite.

His theory of files on others in nothing but a deliberate attack on the country itself. This is an indication of the cynical manipulation of the basic norms of the integrity of the nation. This is an indication of the aberration of executive power which was further augmented by the 18th amendment to the constitution. The whole story of dissimulation of the constitutional crisis lies on this basic notion. Why do we need a leader who is protecting thieves to protect himself?

This is an indication of further decay of the moral and ethical quality of the state apparatus. Instead of finding justice according to the law, he used those files to blackmail the thieves to protect and enhance the executive power. The whole story behind the rising of Rajapaksa’s power is based on this deteriorated disagreeable cynical lure. This is nothing but the real nihilism of the “Mahinda Chinthanaya”.

However, he has made the real threat to his thieves who are licking his feet. “I will exposed you if you cross over,” is the basic motto of the president.

But the important challenge is to the public, the people have to decide take all the files, including the known files of Rajapaksa into the public domain.

Do the files on President Rajapaksa and his clan differ in content from the files that he is keeping on others? For one thing the amounts plundered will be unimaginably higher. By announcing the existence of these files on his present and former colleagues President Rajapaksa has truly opened a can of worms. He is not the only person keeping files on others.

The public has files on all those who plundered the nation. The public will decide which kick is suitable to whom. This is only a matter of time.

Who Will Rule? A Question From An Undecided Voter

By Dayan Jayatilleka -November 26, 2014 

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

Like the majority of my fellow citizens I am an undecided voter. My father Mervyn de Silva used to characterize me slightly critically, as “a Romantic”, and the romantic in me would like to vote for change. But right now, I cannot make that decision because the Realist in me raises a fundamental question: “who rules?” Or rather, who would rule, if Mr. Sirisena wins? Sadly, the answer to that question is not “Mr. Sirisena, would, of course”. That is because Mr. Sirisena has told us categorically that he would abolish the executive presidency within one hundred days. He has also told us that he would appoint Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister, when he could have said instead that the Prime Ministership would be given to the UNP (the party, not the person). In addition, as Maithripala’s media conference and more tellingly his homage at the Bandaranaike Samadhi tells us, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga would be a key player in the bloc that succeedsMahinda Rajapaksa.

So the question—and it is the most basic question of politics– remains: who will rule? We know who will not rule, namely Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa. Is that good enough? Is that enough to make a decision to vote for Maithripala? Not for me, and I daresay, not for the majority of our citizens. That may have been enough if the President were quite as unpopular as President Jayewardene in his last few years in office. But that is not the case with Mahinda. Furthermore, even in the case of JRJ, the voter was fastidious about whom we would replace him with—Sirima Bandaranaike or Ranasinghe Premadasa? In short, would we go back to the bad old days of ’70-’77, or forward to a socially fairer future?Read More

The Mastermind Behind The Common Candidate

| by Shihara Maduwage 

Courtesy: Daily Mirror, Colombo

 ( November 26, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Last week, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) stalwart and its General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to cross over to the opposition and his nomination as the common opposition candidate shocked the country. In an interview with Dailymirror Jaathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) General Secretary and the leading figure of the Pivithuru Hetak (Clean Tomorrow) National Council Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera revealed that he had played an instrumental role in this political twist.

As a party has the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) reached a decision on whether to support Mr. Maithripala Sirisena as the common candidate?

The Mastermind Behind the Common Candidate by Thavam

Ranil for national Govt

Ranil for national Govt

By Zahrah Imtiaz and Ruwan Laknath Jayakody- 2014-11-27

Leader of the United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremesinghe, said the party agreed to form a National Government, at least for a period of two years, if Maithripala Sirisena were to be elected as President.
The UNP Leader said other political parties were thereafter free to decide whether to continue with the National Government or choose to contest separately. The goal, according to Wickremesinghe, was to strengthen the Parliamentary System where even the Executive Prime Minister would be answerable to Parliament.

"Sri Lanka will start the new year with a new government, with an end to the UPFA regime, with a new President and a new political era," Wickremesinghe said, addressing the UNP District Organizers' meeting at Sirikotha yesterday.
"As we welcome Maithri to Sirikotha, we must acknowledge the fact that he made an important and brave decision when he chose to be the common candidate of the Opposition," he added.

He was joined on stage by Maithripala Sirisena, Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa, UNP General Secretary, Tissa Attanayake, former Minister Rajitha Senaratne and several UNP MPs.
Wickremesinghe emphasized the government, in the last 10 years, had worked to erode democracy in the country. "Rajapaksa government tried to destroy the UNP, but I did not let that happen. Now he has moved onto breaking down the SLFP," he said. Elaborating further, he said, "We do not have much time for the campaign and we need to get the voters to the polling booth.

You need to talk to the SLFP voter, the JVP voter, the JHU voter and the supporters of every other party and get their support. It is not simply about forming a UNP Government; we need to realize that we all need to get together to find solutions to the common problems of our country. It is not only the UNP supporter who is suffering, but every citizen in this country. So our solutions must apply to all."
The UNP Leader assured his supporters that the move to field a common candidate or to form a National Government would in no way compromise the integrity of the UNP. "We are not here to replace the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime with the same old politics. We are here to make a change," he said.

Fourth shooting incident reported from Mawilmada, Kandy

 Wednesday, 26 November 2014 

Shots were fired at the office of UNP MP MMA Halim, at Mawilmada, Kandy, in the early hours of November 25. The windows and walls of the office were damaged. According to statistics of Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) this is the fourth incident of election violence with use of firearms after the Maithripala Sirisena declared his candidacy.

 Halim has been actively promoting Sirisena and he was the facilitator of Sirisena's visit to Kandy Muslim Mosque. After the election was declared shooting incidents were reported from Maggona, Kalutara, Madampe, Puttalam (two incidents), and Mawilmada. Although the vehicle used to carry out the shooting incident at Maggona has been identified and despite the availability of CCTV footage Police has not taken steps to arrest any suspects. Chamila Ranasinghe, a former UNP local councillor, is currently undergoing treatment at Colombo National Hospital and is in critical condition.
 Meanwhile CaFFE released footage which clearly shows who carried out the attack on a journalist in Mawathagama. However Police has not taken any steps to even take a statement from the Chairman of the Local Council.
 CaFFE also believes that since Madampe and Mawilmada incidents were carried out in the night, police might altogether drop the investigation.
CaFFE expresses grave concern about the proliferation of violence in several parts of the island and urge relevant authorities to necessary action to stop these incidents.

UNP Made A Historic Sacrifice: Maithri

November 26, 2014

UNP frontliners and senior members today convened to express the support of an undivided UNP for the candidacy of SLFP stalwart Maithripala Sirisena, indicating the creation of a successful coalition movement to back the common opposition movement.

Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and UNP frontliners Sajith Premadasa, Tissa Attanayake, Karu Jayasuriya held a media briefing at the Sirikotha today to which defected MP Rajith Senaratne as well as the common candidate and former Minister Maithripala Sirisena too attended.

During the conference held this morning, Maithripala Sirisena said that their aim is to create a national government following the Presidential polls, if he is elected into power.

He thanked the UNP for their support while adding the party has made a historic sacrifice in supporting him despite his position in the SLFP as the General Secretary.

“The government is trying to mislead both the UNP-ers and SLFP-ers. We call upon the pblic o rise against this corrupt regime,” he said addressing the media and the public at the gathering today.

He also stated that although they are faced with safety concerns upon leaving the government but stressed on the fact that he has placed his security upon the people.

Meanwhile UNP frontliners Sajith Premadasa and party General Secretary Tissa Attanayake who also spoke to the media said that they support the decision made by the UNP.

“Our leader and working committee decided that the party should make a sacrifice. The UNP has spent enough time as the Opposition party. . . We believe this coalition will benefit the UNP-ers greatly,” UNP MP Sajith Premadasa said.

Meanwhile, Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe commended Maithripala for agreeing to be the common candidate and said he has made a brave decision.

“Usually our opponents are the SLFP-ers but this time it is the Rajapaksa regime. . .Let us first unite with all other parties and ensure the common candidate emerges victorious,” he said while adding that it is time to create a new political culture which future generations would praise.

Ferguson braced for more unrest after night of violence

TUESDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2014
A night of rioting follows a grand jury decision not to indict a white police officer over the killing of black teenager Michael Brown. More National Guard reinforcements are being drafted in.

Ferguson Braced for More Unrest After Night of Violence by Thavam

Terror threat to India rising again six years after Mumbai attacks

Drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan, weakness of Pakistani government and surge of Islamic State mean risk of attack is highest in years, officials and analysts say

An Indian border security force soldier stands guard in Tripura state a week after the Mumbai attacks in 2008. Photograph: Parthajit Datta/AFP/Getty Images-----Police stand by flowers outside the Taj Hotel. Photograph: Sean Smith/Guardian

Jason Burke in Mumbai-Wednesday 26 November 2014 

India is facing a period of heightened terrorist threat due to internal, regional and global factors, security officials say. Six years on from the bloody attack on luxury hotels and other targets in the country’s commercial capital, Mumbai, local and international officials say a pause in spectacular attacks in India could be broken at any moment.
Terror threat to India rising again six years after Mumbai attacks.odt by Thavam

What Obama Doesn't Understand About 

Syria

• BY NOAH BONSEY-NOVEMBER 26, 2014

The  current U.S. strategy to destroy the Islamic State is likely doomed to fail. In fact, it risks doing just the opposite of its intended goal: strengthening the jihadis' appeal in Syria, Iraq, and far beyond, while leaving the door open for the Islamic State to expand into new areas.
What Obama Doesn't Understand About Syria by Thavam

Hong Kong student leader Joshua Wong arrested in Mong Kok clearance

By Andrew Stevens and Tim Hume, CNN-Wed November 26, 2014

Hong Kong (CNN) — Hong Kong student protest leaders Joshua Wong and Lester Shum were among those arrested amid heated confrontations as authorities attempted to clear demonstration camps in the Mong Kok district for a second day.

Wong, the 18-year old founder of the secondary school activist group Scholarism, and Shum, deputy secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, were arrested after police and bailiffs moved to clear barricades on Nathan Road in the bustling commercial area, a spokeswoman for the student federation told CNN.

Hong Kong Student Leader Joshua Wong Arrested in Mong Kok Clearance by Thavam

Putin’s tiger kills 15 goats in northeast China

NKorea holds anti-UN rally as Kim Jong-un hits out at US ‘cannibals’

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Pic: AP

By AP News Nov 26, 2014

The official Xinhua News Agency said Wednesday the beast named Ustin bit and killed a total of 15 goats on Sunday and Monday on the same farm in Heilongjiang province’s Fuyuan county.

Xinhua says the farm owner Guo Yulin was stressed about the tiger.

Ustin was one of three Siberian tigers released by Putin in a remote part of the Amur region in May. Two of them have entered China. They are monitored by Chinese wildlife workers and fitted with tracking devices.

The other tiger, Kuzya, was believed to have raided a farm and eaten five chickens last month in another Heilongjiang county.

NKorea holds anti-UN rally as Kim Jong-un hits out at US ‘cannibals’

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Pic: AP.

By Asian Correspondent Staff Nov 25, 2014

North Koreans have staged a mass rally to protest a United Nations resolution condemning their country’s human rights record, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Protesters at the rally Tuesday on Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square carried banners praising their leaders and condemning the United States.

North Korea has denounced the U.N. resolution, which is the first to urge the Security Council to refer the issue to the International Criminal Court. That would open the possibility of its autocratic leader, Kim Jong Un, being targeted by prosecutors. The non-binding resolution is to come before the U.N. General Assembly in the coming weeks.

North Korea says the U.N. move is based on trumped-up allegations by defectors and backed by the United States and other countries seeking to overthrow its ruling regime.

Meanwhile, Kim lashed out at U.S. “imperialist aggressors” during a visit to the Sinchon Museum of United States War Atrocities Tuesday, according to the state-run KCNA news agency.

“The massacres committed by the US imperialist aggressors in Sinchon showed that they are cannibals seeking pleasure in slaughter,” he was quoted as saying.

Survey concludes Internet access should be a human right

An estimated one third of the world's population (or 2.3 billion people) is online (AFP Photo/Frederic J. Brown)

November 24, 2014

Ottawa (AFP) - Affordable access to the Internet should be a human right, as it represents hope for political freedom and economic prosperity to many around the world, according to a survey Monday.

Most people also do not want any one nation or organization to manage this global network of computers, in order to prevent crackdowns on free speech and political expression.

But they are split on who then should run it.

The CIGI-Ipsos survey of 23,376 people in 24 countries was unveiled at the start of a two-day meeting in Ottawa on Internet governance.

An estimated one third of the world's population (or 2.3 billion people) is online.

According to the Global Commission on Internet Governance, which is hosting the Ottawa conference, the world is at a crossroads, with competition for power and influence of all aspects of the Internet heating up.

The group, chaired by former Swedish politician and diplomat Carl Bildt, is scheduled to present policy recommendations for the future of Internet governance in 2016.

More than 80 percent of survey respondents said Internet access is key to their economic future and livelihood, and important for free speech and political expression, and so it should be a right.

Users in Africa and the Middle East were most likely to hold this view.

"Overwhelming global public support for the idea that access to the Internet should be a human right also shows just how important the Internet has come to freedom of expression, freedom of association, social communication, the generation of new knowledge, and economic opportunity and growth," the commission's Fen Hampson told a press conference.

Asked who they most trusted to set the rules for web access and usage, a small majority (57 percent) of respondents chose a combination of technical experts and engineers, non-governmental groups and others.

Fifty percent felt the United Nations would do a good job while 36 percent supported the United States taking a lead role.

The survey also found that Internet users worldwide are increasingly concerned about online privacy (64 percent), and feared hacking of their bank accounts and theft of their private data such as photos and messages.

As well, they worry about government censorship and spying.

North Americans and Europeans were least likely to fret about their personal information being compromised (35-36 percent, respectively) but were also least likely to share personal data online.

The poll was conducted October 7 to November 12 in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey and the United States.

Canadian radio host Jian Ghomeshi charged with sexual assault

Ghomeshi to appear in court on Wednesday afternoon after being charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of overcoming resistance by choking

Jian Ghomeshi in 2012. Photograph: George Pimentel/WireImage

Nicky Woolf in New York-Wednesday 26 November 2014

Canadian broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi has been arrested and formally charged with four counts of sexual assault, Toronto police announced on Wednesday.

He has also been charged with one count of overcoming resistance by choking.

The arrest comes days after the announcement that Ghomeshi was dropping his C$55m lawsuit against his former employer, the Canadian Broadcasting Company, leaving him to pay C$18,000 in legal fees. He has reportedly filed a grievance through his union, the Canadian Media Guild.

Ghomeshi, one of Canada’s most popular broadcasters, had been the host of the hit CBC radio show Q. But on 24 October, CBC announced that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence after it received information about Ghomeshi’s alleged penchant for sadomasochistic sex – reportedly from Ghomeshi himself, who had realised he was the subject of an investigation by reporters working for the Toronto Star.

Ghomeshi posted an emotional defense of his actions on Facebook in an effort to get out in front of the story, and hired a public relations firm to help him.

In his Facebook post, he said that it was not unusual for him to engage in “adventurous forms of sex that included role-play, dominance and submission” but said that it was always consensual.

The post implied that the allegations against him were the act of a jilted ex-girlfriend.

The day after his statement was posted, the Toronto Star published a story detailing allegations from three women who said Ghomeshi had verbally and physically abused them without their consent.

On October 26 he was officially fired from his job at the CBC.

In a second Facebook post Ghomeshi said that he intended to “meet these allegations directly.” But the following day four more women came forward with allegations of sexual violence.

One of these was Lucy DeCoutere, an actor and the star of the comedy series Trailer Park Boys. She told the Star that she met Ghomeshi at a television festival in Banff in 2003, and that later, at his home in Toronto, Ghomeshi had “pushed her against the wall, choked her with his hands around her neck, and then slapped her,” the paper reported.

Another of the women, a former CBC producer in Montreal, told the Star that she “dreamed of being on [Ghomeshi’s radio show] Q.” The paper reported that she told them Ghomeshi threw her against the wall of his hotel room and was “forceful” with her. She told the paper that she performed oral sex just “to get out of there.”

After the new allegations emerged, the crisis-management firm Ghomeshi had hired announced that it would no longer be working with him. The Toronto police began investigating Ghomeshi on October 31.

He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday afternoon.